Games of pool or billiards have endured over the years since their respective invention and now involve large rosters of professional players, large audiences and large sums of money. The apparatus for playing these games are being upgraded by highly skilled and inventive artisans who are inspired by a love of the game and by the large sums of money available to improve and facilitate play of the games. Such apparatus includes, but is not limited to, at least one driving, or cue ball which is usually white in color, a plurality of variously colored balls, sometimes called “object balls,” which are to be propelled in desired directions by the cue ball, and one or more cue sticks utilized for striking a cue ball. A cue stick may typically be about five feet long and made of wood such as ash or maple and be circumferentially tapered from about 14 mm diameter at a free, gripping end to about 11 mm diameter at an opposite, free striking end. Advantageously, there is assembled to the cue stick at the striking end, a deformable tip so the cue ball may be pressed into the tip by force of the cue stick when it is longitudinally translated and the Up is driven against the cue ball. The pressing of a deformable tip to a cue ball facilitates giving “spin” to a cue ball, sometimes called giving English to the ball. Another purpose of the tip is to impart velocity to the cue ball; still another purpose is to impart precise aim to the cue ball. It will be appreciated that imparting and controlling such spinning, velocity and aim cannot be achieved unless the cue stick is properly supported so its tip engages the cue ball exactly as desired by a player. Normally, such support is achieved by a player applying a first hand near the gripping end of the cue stick for supportively translating the cue stick and applying a second hand near the striking end for supporting and guiding the tip of the cue stick into the desired engagement with the cue ball. Such guiding is typically achieved by placing the second hand downwardly upon the flat driving surface of the table, then raising the knuckles and thumb upwardly to form a “V” shaped bridge between the thumb and adjacent knuckle for supportively guiding the cue stick. Also, a player may utilize the forefinger of the guiding hand to wrap around and guide the cue stick. If the cue ball is close to a side rail which supportively encompasses the table, such rail may be utilized by the guiding hand to supportively guide the cue stick.
A problem is that the cue ball may not always be conveniently located whereby supportively translating and guiding the cue stick may be achieved utilizing only a player's first and second hands. For example, the cue ball may be located closely adjacent to one or more object balls. Also, the cue ball may be located so far away from a side rail of the table that a player cannot extend his or her second hand sufficiently to get close enough to the cue ball to supportively guide the cue stick and tip into the desired engagement with the cue ball.
The problem of inconveniently located cue balls was addressed in the prior art primarily with apparatus referred to as a “bridge” (sometimes called a “rake” because the bridge sometimes resembles a miniature garden rake). The bridge has a handle resembling a cue stick with a gripping free end and a guiding end. Across the guiding end there is provided a rectangular guide plate. The guide plate has a longer side which may be 4″ to 6″ long and a shorter side which is about 2″-2½″ long. An edge of the longer side and an edge of the shorter side have “V” shaped notches. In use the player places one long side of the guide plate on the flat playing surface, utilizing the bridge handle to position the guide plate on the player's side of the cue ball. Then the cue stick has its handle, adjacent the guiding free end, placed into a notch along the upper edge of the bridge. By manipulating the gripping end of the cue stick with the player's one hand and manipulating the gripping end of the bridge handle with the player's other hand, the tip of the cue stick is brought into a desired position for engagement with the cue ball. When the cue ball is obstructed, such as by one or more object balls, the player rotates the bridge handle to bring one of the short sides of the rectangular guide plate to rest on the flat playing surface, elevating the notch on the other short side of the bridge guide plate. The cue stick handle, adjacent the guiding end of the cue stick, is then placed in the elevated notch, whereby the cue Up may be translated over the obstruction and into a position for the desired engagement with the cue ball.
A problem with prior art bridges is that the guide plate often provides unstable support of the cue stick. Such instability is especially evident when the guide plate is rotated to rest on its short end to elevate the guiding end of the cue stick. Sometimes the guide plate cannot be placed sufficiently close to the cue ball, and so the cue stick, slidably supported in a notch in the guide plate, cannot be properly translated over obstructions and into the desired engagement of a cue ball.
Accordingly, it is desirable to provide new and improved apparatus for supporting portions of a bridge and a cue stick. It is desirable to bring the guiding end of the cue stick and its tip into a desired engagement with the cue ball when the cue ball is inconveniently distant from a player or is obstructed, such as by object balls. Prior art bridges are found with most pool and billiard apparatus, so it is desirable to provide apparatus to enhance guiding support provided by such bridges. It is further desirable that such apparatus be easily carried in a player's pocket and be readily applied to such known bridges.